An oud awakening: cologne ingredient revealed

What is this mystery ingredient that keeps cropping up in so many men's scents?

BY Gareth Wyn Davies |
04 May 2011

A bottle of Leather Oud men's cologne by Christian Dior-menswear

Oud Wood, Oud & Bergamot, Secret Oudh, Crystal Oud and now (courtesy of Christian Dior) the extremely lovely men's cologne Leather Oud... No prizes for guessing what all these very of-the-moment scents have in common: yes, oud, otherwise known as the perfume industry's latest favourite ingredient. And there are
plenty
more where these came from, as a cursory browse round any beauty hall flogging upmarket 'niche' men's or unisex fragrances will quickly confirm.

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So what exactly is oud? It is - and here I must confess to cribbing from Wikipedia - a dark resinous heartwood that forms in aquilaria and gyrinops trees when they become infected with a type of mould. Lovely. Anyway, I get on to the subject of the West's sudden oud obsession while talking to a friend from Abu Dhabi who now lives in London. To say he's bemused by it all is something of an understatement. "I grew up with the stuff," he sniffs. "It's, like, take it away from me."

In Abu Dhabi, and indeed other Gulf states, they've long burnt blocks of the wood in the home, and also dabbed the extremely heady neat oil behind the ears before hitting the town. People routinely fight over the finest pieces of oud (shiny, very dark, very resinous, generally from Burma) for special occasions and have even been known to gazump other buyers at their local oud dealership. So how much would they have to pay then? "Well," says my friend nonchalantly, "my mum might pay £5,000 per kilo for something for everyday use, or £10,000 per kilo for some very, very rare Burmese oud for Ramadan or a wedding or something."

Which makes the £120 for 125ml of Dior's new Leather Oud almost look like a bargain, really. As I say, almost. I can't vouch for it, having never sampled the pure unadulterated stuff, but I dare say the Dior is a good deal less suffocating, too. Certainly, the leather and oud together make for a subtly smoky, powdery scent that puts me in mind of medieval churches (in the best possible way) rather than mystical far-flung places... As you can probably tell, I am fair hooked.
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